CHAPTER Understanding Windows

CHAPTER

All-in-1 / A+ Certification Exm Gde, 6th Ed. / Meyers / 6311-3

13Understanding Windows

In this chapter, you will learn how to• Explain the Windows interface• Identify the features and characteristics of Windows 2000 and Windows XP• Describe the current versions of Windows

So, you’ve now got Windows installed and you’re staring at the desktop. Pretty, eh? Well, as a tech, you need to understand Windows at a level that no regular user would dare. This chapter introduces you to and shows you the functions of some of the more powerful aspects of Windows, such as NTFS and the Registry. Not only must techs run through the standard Windows features that everyone uses every day (My Computer, Recycle Bin, and so on), they must also be comfortable drilling down underneath that user-friendly surface to get their hands a little dirty.

This chapter takes you through the Windows interface in detail, including the user interface, tech utilities, and folder structure. The second section looks in more detail at the techie aspects of Windows, including the structure of the OS, NTFS, and the boot process. The final short section runs through the many variations of Windows on the market today, going through the “Beyond A+” section to Windows Vista and non-desk-top versions of Windows. Let’s get started!

Windows InterfaceAll versions of Windows share certain characteristics, configuration files, and general look and feel. Here’s some good news: you’ll find the same, or nearly the same, utilities in almost all versions of Windows, and once you master one version—both GUI and command line interface—you’ve pretty much got them all covered. This section covers the essentials: where to find things, how to maneuver, and what common utilities are available. Where versions of Windows differ in concept or detail, I’ll point that out along the way. We’ll get to the underlying structure of Windows in the subsequent two sections of this chapter. For now, let’s look at the common user interface, tech-oriented utilities, and typical OS folders.

1

ch13.indd 1ch13.indd 1 11/24/2006 10:03:05 AM11/24/2006 10:03:05 AM


CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

2

User InterfaceWindows offers a set of utilities, or interfaces, that every user should know about—both how and why to access them. And since every user should know about them, certainly every CompTIA A+ certified tech should as well! Let’s take a quick tour of the typical Windows GUI.

LoginEvery version of Windows supports multiple users on a single machine, so the starting point for any tour of the Windows user interface starts with the login screen. Figure 13-1 shows a Windows 2000 login screen; Figure 13-2 shows a Windows XP login screen.

The login screen for Windows 9x/Me offered no security for the system—you could simply press ESC to bypass the screen and access the OS. Bowing to the home user’s

Figure 13-1 Windows 2000 login screen



Chapter 13: Understanding Windows

3

focus on convenience, Windows XP Home also allows users to access their accounts without requiring a login password, but by enabling password-protected individual user logins, the NT, 2000, and XP versions of Windows offer the security-conscious user a higher degree of security.

DesktopThe Windows desktop is your primary interface to the computer. It’s always there, under-neath whatever applications you have open. The desktop analogy appeals to most peo-ple—we’re used to sitting down at a desk to get work done. Figure 13-3 shows a nice, clean Windows 2000 desktop; note the icons on the left and the various graphical elements across the bottom. You can add folders and files to the desktop, and customize the back-ground to change its color or add a picture. Most people like to do so—certainly, I do! As an example, Figure 13-4 shows my desktop from my home system—a Windows XP PC.

Figure 13-2 Windows XP login screen




4

Figure 13-3 Windows 2000 desktop

Figure 13-4 Mike’s messy desktop




5

Taskbar and Start MenuThe taskbar runs along the bottom of all Windows desktops and includes up to four sections (depending on the version of Windows and your configuration). Starting at the left side, these are: the Start button, the Quick Launch toolbar, the running pro-grams area, and the system tray. Although the taskbar by default sits at the bottom of the desktop, you can move it to either side or the top of the screen.

One of the main jobs of the taskbar is to show the Start button, probably the most clicked button on all Windows systems. You can find the Start button on the far left end of the taskbar (Figure 13-5). Click the Start button to bring up the Start menu, which enables you to see all programs loaded on the system and to start them. Now, move your mouse cursor onto All Programs. When the All Programs menu appears, move the cursor to the Accessories menu. Locate the Notepad program and click it, as shown in Figure 13-6. By default, Windows hides lesser-used menu options, so if you don’t see Notepad, click the double down-arrows at the bottom of the Accessories menu. Note-pad will then appear.

Figure 13-5 Start button

Figure 13-6 Opening Notepad in Windows XP




6

NOTE NOTE You have a lot of clicking to do in this chapter, so take a moment to reflect on what I lovingly call the “General Rules of Clicking.” With a few exceptions, these rules always apply, and they really help in manipulating the Windows interface to do whatever you need done: • Click menu items once to use them. • Click icons once to select them. • Click icons twice to use them. • Right-click anything to see its properties.

Great! If you opened Notepad properly, you should see something like Figure 13-7, with Notepad displaying an untitled text page. Notice how Notepad shows up on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Most running programs will appear on the taskbar in this way. Close the Notepad program by clicking on the button with the “X” in the upper right corner of the Notepad window. Look again at the taskbar to see that Note-pad no longer appears there.

Figure 13-7 Notepad application (note the buttons in the upper-right corner)




7

These icons show programs running in the background. You’ll often see icons for network status, volume controls, battery state (on laptops), and PC Card status (also usu-ally on laptops). What shows up on yours depends on your version of Windows, what hardware you use, and what programs you have loaded. For example, the icon at the far left in Figure 13-8 is my McAfee Antivirus program, and the one at the far right is my UPS program, both humming away in the background protecting my precious data!

Near the left end of the taskbar, next to the Start button, you will find the Quick Launch toolbar (Figure 13-9). This handy extra enables you to select often-used pro-grams with a single click. On Windows XP systems, the Quick Launch toolbar is not displayed on the taskbar by default, so before you can use this convenient feature, you must right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and check Show Quick Launch. To change the contents of the Quick Launch toolbar, simply drag icons onto or off of it.

Figure 13-8 System tray showing seven icons and the time

Figure 13-9 Quick Launch toolbar

My ComputerMy Computer provides access to all drives, folders, and files on the system. To open My Computer, simply double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop. When you first open My Computer in Windows 2000, it displays all the drives on the system (Figure 13-10). Windows XP offers a more sophisticated My Computer, with all details and common tasks displayed in the left pane (Figure 13-11). Windows XP does not include My Computer on the desktop by default, but you can readily access it through the Start menu.

Now look all the way to the right end of the taskbar. This part of the taskbar is known as the system tray. You will at a minimum see the current time displayed in the system tray, and on most Windows systems you’ll also see a number of small icons there. Figure 13-8 shows the system tray on my PC.




8

Figure 13-10 My Computer in Windows 2000

Figure 13-11 My Computer in Windows XP




9Note the interesting icons Windows XP gives for all the different devices on your

computer! Most of these are storage devices, like the hard drive and optical drives—but what the heck is a scanner doing in there? The answer is that any program can add to the My Computer screen, and the folks who wrote the drivers for the scanner thought that it should go into My Computer.

To view the contents of any device, double-click its icon in My Computer. For ex-ample, let’s say you want to see the contents of a floppy diskette. Just insert the diskette into the floppy drive, then double-click the floppy drive icon to see what’s inside. Figure 13-12 shows the contents of a USB thumb drive I had lying around.

Figure 13-12 Displaying the contents of a thumb drive using My Computer

Notice the different icons? Windows assigns different icons to different types of files based on their extensions, the set of characters at the end of a filename, such as .EXE, .TXT, or .JPG. The oldest extensions, starting from back in the DOS era, are usually three characters, but newer programs may use two-character extensions, like .JS (JavaScript) or .AU (audio), or even four-character extensions, like the ubiquitous .HTML for Web pages. In rare cases, such as the system file NTLDR, a filename might actually have no extension.

As you look at these icons on your own screen, some of you might say, “But I don’t see any extensions!” That’s because Windows hides them by default. To see the exten-sions, select Tools | Folder Options to open the Folder Options dialog box (Figure 13-13). Click the View tab and uncheck Hide Extensions for Known File Types.




10

There are two other very handy settings under the View tab, but to best see the re-sults, you need to be in the C: drive of My Computer, as shown in Figure 13-14.

Figure 13-13 Folder Options dialog box

Figure 13-14 Default My Computer View




11Go back into the View tab under Folder Options, and click the Show Hidden Files

and Folders radio button, and then uncheck Hide Protected Operating System Files. Click the Apply to All Folders button in Windows XP, or the Apply button (bottom right) in Windows 2000. Your C: drive should look like Figure 13-15 (it shows the Windows XP version) when you are done. As before, when you return to examining the folder contents, you will see the file extensions, and possibly some previously hidden files.

Figure 13-15 My Computer displaying hidden files and folders

Now that those files are visible, you have the awesome responsibility of keeping them safe! In general, the less you handle your vital system files, the better. You’ll learn some ways to do useful things with files that were previously hidden, but unless you really know what you’re doing, it’s best to leave them alone. Before you turn a PC over to some-one who isn’t a trained PC tech, you’ll probably want to hide those system files again.

Windows ExplorerIn every version of Windows prior to XP, Windows Explorer acts like a separate and distinct tool from My Computer, showing file and folder information in a double-paned fashion rather than all in a single pane (Figure 13-16). Windows XP merged the two into a single tool, but you can still get the Explorer-like interface by right-clicking a folder and selecting Explore from the options, or by clicking on the Folder button on the toolbar. Figure 13-17 shows My Computer exploring an important folder on my hard drive.




12

Figure 13-16 Windows Explorer in Windows 2000

Figure 13-17 My Computer in Windows XP masquerading as Windows Explorer




13

My Documents, My [Whatever]Windows provides a special folder called My Documents. Early versions of Windows lacked a single location for users to place their files, and Microsoft discovered that users dumped their files all over the hard drive, and they often had trouble remembering where they’d put them! Microsoft recognized this issue and created My Documents as a central default storage area for all files created by applications. Many Windows pro-grams, such as Office 2003, store their files in My Documents unless you explicitly tell them to use a different folder.

As with My Computer, most Windows XP installations do not show My Documents on the desktop. You can access it readily through the Start menu, or you can add it to your desktop. Right-click the desktop and select Properties to open the Display Proper-ties dialog box. Select the Desktop tab, and then click on the Customize Desktop but-ton to open the Desktop Items dialog box (Figure 13-18). On the General tab, select the check box next to My Documents, My Computer, or both, and then click OK to close the dialog box and make the icon(s) appear on the desktop.

Figure 13-18 Desktop Items dialog box

NOTE NOTE As with most tools in Windows, Microsoft gives you more than one way to accomplish tasks. To make My Documents and other default folders appear on the desktop, you can right-click the icon in the Start menu and select Show on Desktop from the options. That’s it!

Windows XP adds a number of subfolders to My Documents: My Pictures (which offers filmstrip and thumbnail views of pictures you store there), My Music (which will fire up Media Player to play any file), My Videos (which, again, starts Media Player), and more. Figure 13-19 shows My Pictures, using thumbnail view. Many applications have since jumped on the bandwagon and added their own My [Whatever] folders in My Documents. On my PC right now, I have My eBooks, My Webs, My Received Files, My Virtual Machines … My Goodness!




14

Recycle BinIn Windows, a file is not erased when you delete it. Windows adds a level of protection in the form of a special folder called the Recycle Bin. When you delete a file in Windows, it moves into the Recycle Bin. It stays there until you empty the Recycle Bin or restore the file, or until the Recycle Bin reaches a preset size and starts erasing its oldest contents.

To access its properties, right-click the Recycle Bin and select Properties. The Recycle Bin’s properties look different in different versions of Windows, but they all work basi-cally the same. Figure 13-20 shows the properties of a typical Windows XP Recycle Bin. Note that you set the amount of drive space to use for the Recycle Bin, 10 percent being the default amount. If a hard drive starts to run low on space, this is one of the first places to check!

Figure 13-19 My Pictures subfolder in My Documents




15

My Network PlacesSystems tied to a network, either via a network cable or by a modem, have a folder called My Network Places (see Figure 13-21). This shows all the current network connec-tions available to you. You’ll learn about My Network Places in Chapter 21.

Figure 13-20 Windows XP Recycle Bin Properties

Figure 13-21 My Network Places in Windows XP

NOTE NOTE Microsoft called the Windows 9x/Me network space Network Neighborhood. You’ll still hear many techs use that term instead of My Network Places, simply because it doesn’t sound so awkward. “Simply open your My …”

Hot KeysWindows has a number of key combinations that enable you to go directly to different programs and places. Here’s a fairly extensive list of general purpose commands for Windows. Be aware that some applications may change the use of these commands!




16Function Keys

• F1 Help

• F2 Rename

• F3 Search menu

• F4 Open the Address Bar options

• F5 Refresh the current window

• F6 Move among selections in current windows

• F10 Activate menu bar options

Popular Hot Keys

• CTRL-ESC Open Start menu

• ALT-TAB Switch between open programs

• ALT-F4 Quit program

• CTRL-Z Undo the last command

• CTRL-A Select all the items in the current window

• SHIFT-DELETE Delete item permanently

• SHIFT-F10 Open a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object)

• SHIFT Bypass the automatic-run feature for optical media (by pressing and holding down the SHIFT key while you insert optical media

• ALT-SPACE Display the main window’s System menu (from this menu you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)

• ALT-ENTER Open the properties for the selected object

Working with Text

• CTRL-C Copy

• CTRL-X Cut

• CTRL-V Paste

• CTRL-Z Undo

• CTRL-B Bold

• CTRL-U Underline

• CTRL-I Italic

Windows Key Shortcuts These shortcuts use the special Windows key:

• Windows key Start menu

• Windows key-C Open the Control Panel




17• Windows key-D Show desktop

• Windows key-E Windows Explorer

• Windows key-F Search menu

• Windows key-L Log off Windows

• Windows key-P Start Print Manager

• Windows key-R Run dialog box

• Windows key-S Toggle CAPS LOCK

• Windows key-V Open the Clipboard

• Windows key-CTRL-F Find computer

• Windows key-TAB Cycle through taskbar buttons

• Windows key-BREAK Open the System Properties dialog box

NOTE NOTE I’ve covered only the most basic parts of the Windows desktop in this chapter. The typical Windows desktop will include many other parts, but for techs and for the CompTIA A+ certification exams, what you’ve learned here about the desktop is more than enough!

Tech UtilitiesWindows offers a huge number of utilities that enable techs to configure the OS, opti-mize and tweak settings, install hardware, and more. The trick is to know where to go to find them. This section shows the six most common locations in Windows where you can go to access utilities: right-click, Control Panel, System Tools, command line, Administrative Tools, and the Microsoft Management Console. Note that these are lo-cations for tools, not tools themselves, and many tools may be accessed from more than one of these locations. However, you’ll see some of the utilities in many of these locations. Stay sharp in this section, as you’ll need to access utilities to understand the inner workings of Windows in the next section.

Right-ClickWindows, being a graphical user interface OS, covers your monitor with windows, menus, icons, file lists—all kinds of pretty things you click on to get work done. Any single thing you see on your desktop is called an object. If you want to open any object in Windows, you double-click on it. If you want to change something about an object, you right-click on it.

Right-clicking on an object brings up a small menu, and it works on everything in Windows. In fact, try to place your mouse somewhere in Windows where right-clicking does not bring up a menu (there are a few places, but they’re not easy to find). What you see on the little menu when you right-click varies dramatically, depending on the item you decide to right-click. If you right-click a running program in the running program




18area on the taskbar, you’ll see items that relate to a window, such as move, resize, and so on (Figure 13-22). If you right-click on your desktop, you get options for changing the appearance of the desktop (Figure 13-23). Even different types of files will show different results when you right-click on them!

Figure 13-22 Right-clicking on a program

Figure 13-23 Right-clicking on the desktop

Figure 13-24 Right-clicking on My Computer

One menu item you’ll see almost anywhere you right-click is Properties. Every ob-ject in Windows has properties. When you right-click on something and can’t find what you’re looking for, select Properties. Figure 13-24 shows the results of right-clicking on My Computer—not very exciting. But if you click Properties, you’ll get a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 13-25.




19

Control PanelThe Control Panel handles most of the maintenance, upgrade, and configuration as-pects of Windows. As such, the Control Panel is the first set of tools for every tech to explore. Select Start | Settings | Control Panel to open the Control Panel in Windows 2000. In Windows XP, it’s a Start menu item.

The Control Panel in Windows 2000 opens in the traditional icon-littered view. In Windows XP and Vista, the Control Panel opens into the Category view, in which all the icons are grouped into broad categories such as “Printers and Other Hardware.” This view requires an additional click (and sometimes a guess about which category includes the icon you need), so most techs use the Switch to Classic View link to get back to the icons. Figure 13-26 shows the Windows XP Control Panel in both Category (left) and Classic (right) views.

Figure 13-25 My Computer properties

Figure 13-26 Windows XP Control Panel—two views




20A large number of programs, called applets, populate the Control Panel. The names

and selection of applets will vary depending on the version of Windows and whether any installed programs have added applets. But all versions of Windows share many of the same applets, including Display, Add or Remove Programs, and System—what I call the Big Three applets for techs. Display enables you to make changes to the look and feel of your Windows desktop, and to tweak your video settings. Add or Remove Pro-grams enables you to add or remove programs. The System applet gives you access to essential system information and tools, such as the Device Manager.

Every icon you see in the Control Panel is actually a file with the extension .CPL, and any time you get an error opening the Control Panel, you can bet you have a corrupted CPL file. These are a pain to fix. You have to rename all of your CPL files with another extension (I use .CPB), and then rename them back to .CPL one at a time, each time reopening the Control Panel, until you find the CPL file that’s causing the lockup.

EXAM TIP EXAM TIP Even these common applets vary slightly among Windows versions. The CompTIA A+ certification exams do not test you on every little variance among the same applets in different versions—just know what each applet does!

The Control Panel applets enable you to do an amazing array of things to a Win-dows system, and each applet displays text that helps explain its functions. The Add Hardware applet (Figure 13-27), for example, says quite clearly, “Installs and trouble-shoots hardware.” They are all like that. Figure 13-28 shows the User Accounts applet. Can you determine its use? (If not, don’t sweat it. I’ll cover users in Chapter 15, “Main-taining and Troubleshooting Windows.”) Each Control Panel applet relevant to the CompTIA A+ exams is discussed in detail in the relevant chapter—for example, the Modems applet is discussed in Chapter 22, “The Internet.”

Figure 13-27 Add Hardware Wizard of the Add Hardware applet




21

Device ManagerThe Device Manager enables techs to examine and configure all the hardware and driv-ers in a Windows PC. As you might suspect from that description, every tech spends a lot of time with this tool! You’ve seen it at work in several earlier chapters, and you’ll work with the Device Manager many more times during the course of this book and your career as a PC tech.

There are many ways to get to the Device Manager—make sure you know all of them! The first way is to open the Control Panel and double-click the System applet icon. This brings up the System Properties dialog box. From here, you access the Device Manager by selecting the Hardware tab and then clicking the Device Manager button. Figure 13-29 shows the Hardware tab of the System Properties dialog box in Windows XP.

You can also get to the System Properties dialog box by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties. From there, the path to Device Manager is the same as when you access this dialog box from the Control Panel.

Figure 13-28 User Accounts window of the User Accounts applet




22

NOTE NOTE Holding down the Windows key and pressing the PAUSE key is yet another way to get to the System Properties dialog box. Keyboard shortcuts are cool!

The second (and more streamlined) method is to right-click My Computer and se-lect Manage (Figure 13-30). This opens a window called Computer Management, where you’ll see Device Manager listed on the left side of the screen, under System Tools (Fig-ure 13-31). Just click on Device Manager and it will open. You can also access Com-puter Management by opening the Administrative Tools applet in the Control Panel and then selecting Computer Management.

Figure 13-29 Windows XP System applet with the Hardware tab selected

Figure 13-30 Right-clicking on My Computer to select the Manage option




23

Why are there so many ways to open Device Manager? Well, remember that we’re only looking at locations in Windows from which to open utilities, not at the actual utilities themselves. Windows wants you to get to the tools you need when you need them, and it’s better to have multiple paths to a utility rather than just one.

The Device Manager displays every device that Windows recognizes, organized in special groups called types. All devices of the same type are grouped under the same type heading. To see the devices of a particular type, you must open that type’s group. Figure 13-32 shows a typical Windows XP Device Manager screen with all installed devices in good order—which makes us techs happy. If Windows detects a problem, it shows the device with a red “X” or a yellow exclamation point, as in the case of the network adapter in Figure 13-33.

Figure 13-31 Device Manager in Computer Management




24

NOTE NOTE There is one other “problem” icon you might see on a device in Device Manager—a blue i. According to Microsoft, this means you turned off automatic configuration for a device. This is probably good to know for the exams, but you’ll never see this error on a working machine unless you’re intentionally messing with I/O address or IRQ settings for a device.

Figure 13-32 Happy Device Manager

Figure 13-33 Sad Device Manager




25The red “X” means the device is disabled—right-click on the device to enable it. The

tough one is the yellow exclamation point. If you see this, right-click on the device and select Properties; you’ll see a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 13-34. Read the error code in the Device Status pane, and then look up Microsoft Knowledge Base arti-cle 310123 to see what to do. There are around 40 different errors—nobody bothers to memorize them!

Figure 13-34 Problem device

The Device Manager isn’t just for dealing with problems! It also enables you to update drivers with a simple click of the mouse (assuming you have a driver down-loaded or on disc). Right-click a device and select Update Driver from the menu to get the process started. Figure 13-35 shows the options in Windows XP.

Figure 13-35 Selecting Update Driver in the Windows XP Device Manager




26By double-clicking a device (or by selecting the device and clicking the Properties

button) and then clicking the Resources tab, you can see the resources used by that device. Figure 13-36 shows the resources for an NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT video card.

Figure 13-36 Resources revealed in the Windows XP Device Manager

Make sure you can get to Device Manager! You will come back to it again and again in subsequent chapters, because it is the first tool you should access when you have a hardware problem.

System ToolsThe Start menu offers a variety of tech utilities collected in one place: select Start | Pro-grams | Accessories | System Tools. In the System Tools menu, you’ll find commonly ac-cessed tools, such as System Information and Disk Defragmenter (Figure 13-37).

Figure 13-37 System Tools menu options




27Many techs overlook memorizing how to find the appropriate Windows tool to

diagnose problems, but nothing hurts your credibility with a client like fumbling around, clicking a variety of menus and applets, mumbling “I know it’s around here somewhere.” The CompTIA A+ certification exams therefore test you on a variety of paths to appropriate tools. One of those paths is Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools! Windows XP has all the same tools as Windows 2000, plus a few more, so for each tool I discuss, I’ll say whether the tool is in Windows 2000 or only in XP.

Activate Windows (XP only) Windows XP unveiled a copy protection scheme called activation. Activation is a process where your computer sends Microsoft a unique code generated on your machine based on the installation CD’s product key and a number of hardware features, such as the amount of RAM, the CPU processor model, and other ones and zeros in your PC. Normally activation is done at install time, but if you choose not to activate at install or if you make “substantial” changes to the hard-ware, you’ll need to use the Activate Windows utility (Figure 13-38). The Activate Win-dows utility enables you to activate over the Internet or over the telephone.

Figure 13-38 Activate Windows

NOTE NOTE Once you’ve activated Windows, this applet goes away.




28Backup The Backup utility enables you to back up selected files and folders to re-movable media like tape drives. Backing up is an important function that’s covered in detail in Chapters 15 and 23.

NOTE NOTE Neither Windows XP Home nor Windows Media Center automatically include Backup! You must install the Backup program from the Windows installation CD by running the \Valueadd\MSFT\Ntbackup\NTbackup.msi program.

Character Map Ever been using a program only to discover you need to enter a strange character such as the euro character € but your word processor doesn’t support it? That’s when you need the Character Map. It enables you to copy any Unicode char-acter into the clipboard (Figure 13-39).

Figure 13-39 Character Map

Disk Cleanup Disk Cleanup looks for unneeded files on your computer, which is handy when your hard drive starts to get full and you need space! You must run Disk Cleanup manually in Windows 2000, but Windows XP starts this program whenever your hard drive gets below 200 MB of free disk space.

Disk Defragmenter We first discussed Disk Defragmenter back in Chapter 10. You can access this utility in the same way you access the Device Manager; Disk Defrag-menter is also found in the Computer Management console. A simpler method is to




29select Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools—you’ll find Disk Defragmenter listed there. You can also right-click on any drive in My Computer, select Properties, and click the Tools tab, where you’ll find a convenient Defragment Now button.

Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (XP Only) Suppose you have an old com-puter full of files and settings, and you just got yourself a brand new computer. You want to copy everything from your old computer onto your new computer—what to do? Mi-crosoft touts the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (Figure 13-40) as just the tool you need. This utility copies your desktop files and folders, and most conveniently, your set-tings from Internet Explorer and Outlook Express; however, it won’t copy over your programs, not even the Microsoft ones, and it won’t copy settings for any programs other than IE and Outlook Express. If you need to copy everything from an old com-puter to a new one, you’ll probably want to use a disk imaging tool like Norton Ghost.

Figure 13-40 Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

Scheduled Tasks The Scheduled Tasks utility enables you to schedule any program to start and stop any time you wish. The only trick to this utility is that you must enter the program you want to run as a command on the command line, with all the proper switches. Figure 13-41 shows the configuration line for running the Disk Defragmenter program.




30

Don’t know anything about the command line or switches? Don’t worry, the entire next chapter is just for learning about the command line—and switches!

Security Center (XP Only) The Security Center is a one-stop location for con-figuring many security features on your computer. All of these security features, and many more, are discussed in detail in their related chapters.

System Information System Information is one of those tools that everyone (in-cluding the CompTIA A+ exams) likes to talk about, but it’s uncommon to meet techs who say they actually use this tool. System Information shows tons of information

Figure 13-41 Task Scheduler




31

System Restore (XP Only) System Restore is not only handy, it’s also arguably the most important single utility you’ll ever use in Windows when it comes to fixing a broken system. System Restore enables you to take a “snapshot”—a copy of a number of critical files and settings—and return to that state later (Figure 13-43). System Re-store holds multiple snapshots, any of which you may restore to in the future.

Figure 13-42 System Information

about the hardware and software on your PC (Figure 13-42). You can also use it as a launch point for a number of programs by clicking on the Tools menu.




32

Imagine you’re installing some new device in your PC, or maybe a piece of software. Before you actually install, you take a snapshot and call it “Before Install.” You install the device, and now something starts acting weird. You go back into System Restore and reload the previous snapshot, and the problem goes away.

System Restore isn’t perfect. It only backs up a few critical items, and it’s useless if the computer won’t boot, but it’s usually the first thing to try when something goes wrong—assuming, of course, you made a snapshot!

Command LineThe Windows command line is a throwback to how Microsoft operating systems worked a long, long time ago, when text commands were entered at a command prompt. Figure 13-44 shows the command prompt from DOS, the first operating system commonly used in PCs.

Figure 13-43 System Restore




33

NOTE NOTE The command line goes back to the early days of computing, but it continues to be an essential tool in all modern operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS X, and all versions of Windows. Chapter 14 goes into the command line in detail.

DOS is dead, but the command prompt is alive and well in Windows—including Vista. Every good tech knows how to access and use the command prompt. It is a life-saver when the GUI part of Windows doesn’t work, and it is often faster than using a mouse, if you’re skilled at using it. Since the entire next chapter is devoted to the com-mand line, I’ll mention only one thing here, and that’s how to access a command prompt from within Windows. Select Start | Run, and type cmd in the dialog box. Click OK and you’ll get to a command prompt (Figure 13-45).

Figure 13-44 DOS command prompt




34

Microsoft Management ConsoleOne of the biggest complaints about earlier versions of Windows was the wide dispersal of the many utilities needed for administration and troubleshooting. Despite years of research, Microsoft could never find a place for all the utilities that would please even a small minority of support people. In a moment of sheer genius, Microsoft determined that the ultimate utility was one that the support person made for him or herself! This brought on the creation of the amazing Microsoft Management Console.

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is simply a shell program in Windows 2000 and XP that holds individual utilities called snap-ins. You can start the MMC by selecting Start | Run and typing in MMC to get a blank MMC. Blank MMCs aren’t much to look at (Figure 13-46).

Figure 13-45 Command prompt in Windows XP




35

You make a blank MMC console useful by adding snap-ins, and most of the utilities you use in Windows are really snap-ins. Even the good old Device Manager is a snap-in. You can add as many snap-ins as you like, and there are many to choose from. Many companies sell third-party utilities as MMC snap-ins.

For example, to add the Device Manager snap-in, open the blank MMC, select File (Console in Windows 2000) | Add/Remove Snap-in, and then click the Add button to open the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box. Here you will see a list of available snap-ins (Figure 13-47). Select Device Manager, and click the Add button to open a dialog box that prompts you to choose the local or a remote PC for the snap-in to work with. Choose Local Computer for this exercise, and click the Finish button. Click the Close button to close the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, and then click OK to close the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box.

Figure 13-46 Blank MMC




36

You should see Device Manager listed in the console. Click it. Hey, that looks kind of familiar, doesn’t it? (See Figure 13-48.)

Figure 13-47 Available snap-ins

Figure 13-48 Device Manager as a snap-in




37Once you’ve added the snap-ins you want, just save the console under any name,

anywhere you want. I’ll save this console as Device Manager, for example, and drop it on my desktop (see Figure 13-49). I’m now just a double-click away from the Device Manager!

Figure 13-49 The Device Manager shortcut on the desktop

Administrative ToolsWindows 2000 and XP have combined almost all of the snap-ins into an applet in the Control Panel called Administrative Tools. Open the Control Panel and open Administra-tive Tools (Figure 13-50).

Figure 13-50 Administrative Tools




38Administrative Tools is really just a folder that stores a number of pre-made con-

soles. As you poke through these, you’ll notice that many of the consoles share some of the same snap-ins—nothing wrong with that. Of the consoles in a standard Adminis-trative Tools collection, the ones you’ll spend the most time with are Computer Man-agement, Event Viewer, Performance, and Services.

EXAM TIP EXAM TIP The CompTIA A+ certification exams have little interest in some of these snap-ins, so I won’t cover them all. If I don’t mention it, it’s almost certainly not on the test!

Computer Management The Computer Management applet is a tech’s best buddy, or at least a place where you’ll spend a lot of time when building or maintaining a sys-tem (Figure 13-51). You’ve already spent considerable time with two of its components, System Tools and Storage. System Tools offers System Information, Performance Logs and Alerts, Device Manager, and more. Storage is where you’ll find Disk Management. Each of these tools is of particular interest to techs, as you’ve seen earlier and will see again in Chapters 15 and 23.

Figure 13-51 Computer Management applet

Event Viewer Event Viewer enables you to tell at a glance what has happened in the last day, week, or more, including when people logged in and when the PC had problems (Figure 13-52). You’ll see more of Event Viewer in Chapter 23.




39

Performance The Performance console consists of two snap-ins: System Monitor and Performance Logs and Alerts. You can use these for reading logs—files that record informa-tion over time. The System Monitor can also monitor real-time data (Figure 13-53).

Figure 13-52 Event Viewer reporting system errors

Figure 13-53 System Monitor in action

Suppose you just got a new cable modem and you want to know just how fast you can download data. Click the plus sign (+) on the toolbar to add a counter. Click the Use Lo-




40cal Computer Counters radio button, and then choose Network Interface from the Per-formance Object pull-down menu. Make sure the Select Counters from List radio button is selected. Last, select Bytes Received/Sec. The dialog box should look like Figure 13-54.

Figure 13-54 Setting up a throughput test

Click Add, and then click Close—probably not much is happening. Go to a Web site, preferably one where you can download a huge file. Start downloading and watch the chart jump; that’s the real throughput (Figure 13-55).

Figure 13-55 Downloading with blazing speed




41

NOTE NOTE You’ll learn more about the Performance console in Chapter 15.

Services Windows runs a large number of separate programs called services. The best way to visualize a service is to think of it as something that runs, yet is invisible. Windows comes with about 100 services by default, and they handle a huge number of tasks, from application support to network functions. The Services applet enables you to see the status of all services on the system, including services that are not running (Figure 13-56).

Figure 13-56 Services applet

Right-click a service and select Properties to modify its settings. Figure 13-57 shows the properties for the Alerter service. See the Startup Type pull-down menu? It shows three options: Automatic, Manual, and Disabled. Automatic means it starts when the system starts, Manual means you have to come to this tab to start it, and Disabled pre-vents anything from starting it. Make sure you know these three settings, and also make sure you understand how to start, stop, pause, and resume services (note the four but-tons underneath Startup Type).




42

EXAM TIP EXAM TIP The CompTIA A+ certification exams are not interested in having you memorize all of these services—just make sure you can manipulate them!

OS FoldersEach modern version of Windows organizes essential files and folders in a similar fash-ion. All have a primary system folder for storing most Windows internal tools and files. All use the Registry to keep track of all the hardware loaded and the drivers that enable you to use that hardware. Finally, every version has a RAM cache file, enabling more robust access to programs and utilities.

System FolderSystemRoot is the tech name given to the folder in which Windows has been installed. In most cases, as you might expect, Windows XP’s SystemRoot is C:\WINDOWS, but that’s not always the case; during the installation process, you can change where Win-dows is installed, and for Windows 2000, SystemRoot by default is C:\WINNT.

It’s handy to know about SystemRoot. You’ll find it cropping up in many other tech publications, and it can also be specified when adjusting certain Windows settings, to make sure that they work under all circumstances. When used as part of a Windows configuration setting, it’s often written as %SystemRoot%.

If you don’t know where Windows is installed on a particular system, here’s a handy trick. Go to a command prompt, type cd %systemroot%, and press ENTER. The prompt will change to the directory in which the Windows OS files are stored. Slick!

Figure 13-57 Alerter service properties




43

Other Important FoldersWindows has a number of important folders other than the system folder. Here’s a list of the ones you’ll most likely encounter. For simplicity, let’s assume the system root is C:\WINNT.

NOTE NOTE Windows XP has more system folders than Windows 2000. This list only contains folders common to both Windows 2000 and XP.

• C:\Program Files This is the default location for all of the installed programs.

• C:\Documents and Settings This is where all of the personal settings for each user are stored. Every user has their own subfolder in Documents and Settings. In each user folder, you’ll find another level of folders with familiar names such as Desktop, My Documents, and Start Menu. These folders hold the actual contents of these items.

• C:\WINNT The SystemRoot has a number of critical subfolders, but surprisingly holds no critical files in the folder itself. About the most interesting file found here is good old notepad.exe. Remember that this is C:\WINDOWS on a Windows XP system!

• C:\WINNT\FONTS All of the fonts installed in Windows live here.

• C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 This is the real Windows! All of the most critical programs that make Windows run are stored here.

RegistryThe Registry is a huge database that stores everything about your PC, including informa-tion on all the hardware in the PC, network information, user preferences, file types, and virtually anything else you might run into with Windows. Almost any form of con-figuration done to a Windows system involves editing the Registry. In Windows 2000/XP, the numerous Registry files (called hives) are in the \%SystemRoot%\System32\con-fig folder. Fortunately, you rarely have to access these massive files directly. Instead, you can use a set of relatively user-friendly applications to edit the Registry.

The CompTIA A+ certification exams do not expect you to memorize every aspect of the Windows Registry. You should, however, understand the basic components of the Registry, know how to edit the Registry manually, and know the best way to locate a particular setting.

Accessing the Registry Before we look in the Registry, let’s look at how you ac-cess the Registry directly using a Registry editor. Once you know that, you can open the Registry on your machine and compare what you see to the examples in this chapter.

Windows 2000 comes with two Registry editors: REGEDT32.EXE, shown in Figure 13-58, and the much older REGEDIT.EXE (Figure 13-59). You start either of these pro-grams by going to a command prompt and typing its name.




44

Figure 13-58 REGEDT32 in Windows 2000

Figure 13-59 REGEDIT in Windows 2000




45The reason for having two different Registry editors is long and boring, and explain-

ing it would require a very dull 15-minute monologue (preferably with an angelic cho-rus singing in the background) about how the Registry worked in Windows 9x and Windows NT. Suffice it to say that in Windows 2000 only REGEDT32 is safe to use for actual editing, but you can use the older REGEDIT to perform searches, because REGEDT32’s search capabilities are not very good.

Windows XP and Vista have eliminated the entire two-Registry-editor nonsense by creating a new REGEDT32 that includes strong search functions. No longer are there two separate programs, but interestingly, entering either REGEDIT or REGEDT32 at a command prompt will bring up the same program, so feel free to use either program name. Figure 13-60 shows REGEDIT on a typical Windows XP system.

Figure 13-60 Registry Editor in Windows XP

Registry Components The Registry is organized in a tree structure similar to the folders in the PC. Once you open the Registry Editor in Windows, you will see five main subgroups, or root keys:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER

• HKEY_USERS

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Try opening one of these root keys by clicking on the plus sign to its left; note that more subkeys are listed underneath. A subkey also has other subkeys, or values. Figure 13-61 shows an example of a subkey with some values. Notice that REGEDIT shows




46keys on the left and values on the right, just as Windows Explorer shows directories on the left and files on the right.

Figure 13-61 Typical Registry keys and values

NOTE NOTE When writing about keys and values, I’ll use the expression key = value.

The secret to understanding the Registry is to understand the function of the six root keys first. Each of these root keys has a specific function, so let’s take a look at them individually.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT This root key defines the standard class objects used by Windows. A class object is a named group of functions that define what you can do with the object it represents. Pretty much everything that has to do with files on the system is defined by a class object. For example, the Registry defines the popular MP3 sound file using two class objects. If you search the Registry for the .MP3 file extension, you will find the first class object, which associates the .MP3 file extension with the name “Winamp.File” on this computer (Figure 13-62).




47

Ah, but what are the properties of Winamp.File? That’s what the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT root key is designed to handle. Search this section again for “Winamp.File” (or whatever it said in the value for your MP3 file) and look for a subkey called “open.” This variable determines the file association (Figure 13-63), which is the Windows term for what program to use to open a particular type of file.

Figure 13-62 Association of .MP3 with Winamp

Figure 13-63 Winamp file settings




48This subkey tells the system everything it needs to know about a particular software

item, from which program to use to open a file, to the type of icon used to show the file, to what to show when you right-click on that file type. Although it is possible to change most of these settings via REGEDIT, the normal way is to choose more user-friendly methods. For example, in Windows XP you can right-click on a file and select Proper-ties, and then click the Change button under Open With (Figure 13-64).

Figure 13-64 Changing the file association the easy way

HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_USERS Windows is designed to support more than one user on the same PC, storing personalized information such as desktop colors, screen savers, and the contents of the desktop for every user that has an account on the system. HKEY_CURRENT_USER stores the current user settings, and HKEY_US-ERS stores all of the personalized information for all users on a PC. While you cer-tainly can change items like the screen saver here, the better way is to right-click on the desktop and select Properties!

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE This root key contains all the data for a system’s non-user-specific configurations. This encompasses every device and every program in your PC. For example, Figure 13-65 shows the description of a CD-ROM drive.




49

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG If the values in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE have more than one option, such as two different monitors, this root key defines which one is currently being used. Because most people have only one type of monitor and similar equipment, this area is almost never touched.

Swap File or Page FileWindows uses a portion of the hard drive as an extension of system RAM, through what’s called a RAM cache. A RAM cache is a block of cylinders on a hard drive set aside as what’s called a swap file, page file, or virtual memory. When the PC starts running out of real RAM because you’ve loaded too many programs, the system swaps programs from RAM to the swap file, opening more space for programs currently active. All ver-sions of Windows use a swap file, so let’s look at how one works.

Let’s assume you have a PC with 256 MB of RAM. Figure 13-66 shows the system RAM as a thermometer with gradients from 0 to 256 MB. As programs load, they take up RAM, and as more and more programs are loaded (labeled A, B, and C in the figure), more RAM is used (Figure 13-67).

Figure 13-65 Registry information for a CD-ROM drive

Figure 13-66 A RAM thermometer




50

At a certain point, you won’t have enough RAM to run any more programs (Figure 13-68). Sure, you could close one or more programs to make room for yet another program, but you can’t keep all the programs running simultaneously. This is where virtual memory comes into play. Windows’ virtual memory starts by creating a swap file that resides somewhere on your hard drive. The swap file works like a temporary stor-age box. Windows removes running programs temporarily from RAM into the swap file so other programs can load and run. If you have enough RAM to run all your programs, Windows does not need to use the swap file—Windows brings the swap file into play only when insufficient RAM is available to run all open programs.

Figure 13-67 More programs take more RAM

Figure 13-68 Not enough RAM to load program D

NOTE NOTE Virtual memory is a fully automated process and does not require any user intervention. Tech intervention is another story!

To load, Program D needs a certain amount of free RAM. Clearly, this requires that some other program (or programs) be unloaded from RAM without actually closing the program(s). Windows looks at all running programs, in this case A, B, and C, and decides which program is the least used. That program is then cut out of or swapped from RAM and copied into the swap file. In this case, Windows has chosen Program B (Figure 13-69). Unloading Program B from RAM provides enough RAM to load Pro-gram D (Figure 13-70).

Figure 13-69 Program B being unloaded from memory




51

It is important to understand that none of this activity is visible on the screen! Pro-gram B’s window is still visible along with those of all the other running programs. Nothing tells the user that Program B is no longer in RAM (Figure 13-71).

Figure 13-70 Program B stored in the swap file—room is made for Program D

Figure 13-71 You can’t tell whether a program is swapped or not.

So what happens if you click on Program B’s window to bring it to the front? The program can’t actually run from the swap file; it must be reloaded back into RAM. First, Windows decides which program must be removed from RAM, and this time Windows chooses Program C (Figure 13-72). Then it loads Program B into RAM (Figure 13-73).

Figure 13-72 Program C is swapped to the swap file.




52

Swapping programs to and from the swap file and RAM takes time. Although no visual clues suggest that a swap is taking place, the machine will slow down quite no-ticeably as Windows performs the swaps. However, the alternative (Figure 13-74) is far less acceptable. Swap files are a crucial aspect of Windows operation.

Figure 13-73 Program B is swapped back into RAM.

Figure 13-74 The alternative to swap files

Windows handles swap files automatically, but occasionally you’ll run into prob-lems and need to change the size of the swap file or delete it and let Windows re-create it automatically. The swap file, or page file in Windows 2000 and XP, is PAGEFILE.SYS. You can often find it in the root directory of the C: drive, but again, that can be changed. Wherever it is, the swap file will be a hidden system file (see Chapter 14 for a discussion of file attributes), which means in practice that you’ll have to play with your folder viewing options to see it.

NOTE NOTE If you have a second hard drive installed in your PC, you can often get a nice performance boost by moving your page file from the C: drive (the default) to the second drive. To move your page file, go to the Control Panel | System applet and select the Advanced tab. In the Performance section, click the Settings button to open the Performance Options dialog box. Select the Advanced tab, and then click the Change button in the Virtual Memory section. Select a drive from the list and give it a size or range, and you’re ready to go! Just don’t turn virtual memory off completely. Although Windows can run without virtual memory, you will definitely take a performance hit.




53

Features and Characteristics of Windows 2000/XPMicrosoft Windows 2000 and XP are stable, high-performance operating systems that offer scalability and, above all else, security. Windows 2000 and Windows XP share the same core structure, files, and features, so the discussion that follows applies to both operating systems. Let’s cover both in detail and then discuss the differences between the two OSs.

OS OrganizationThree words best describe Windows 2000/XP organization: robust, scalable, and cross- platform. Microsoft takes an object-oriented approach to the OS, separating it into three distinct parts: the drivers, the NT Executive, and the subsystems (Figure 13-75).

Figure 13-75 Windows NT organization

The NT Executive is the core power of the Windows 2000/XP OS, handling all of the memory management and multitasking. The NT Executive uses a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to separate the system-specific device drivers from the rest of the operating system (Figure 13-76).

Figure 13-76 NT Executive and the HAL




54Windows 2000/XP’s robustness comes from the separation of running processes

into a myriad of subsystems. Each of these subsystems supports different types of ap-plications in separate areas; that way, if one program locks up, it won’t cause the entire system to lock up. Windows supports DOS and older programs designed for earlier ver-sions of Windows, as well current Windows applications, via these numerous subsys-tems (Figure 13-77).

Figure 13-77 NT Executive can handle a lot of different OSs.

Windows 2000/XP’s scalability makes them the only Microsoft OSs to support sym-metric multiprocessing (SMP), providing support for systems with up to 32 CPUs. Yee hah! The server versions of Windows go beyond SMP by adding the power of clustering, en-abling multiple computers to share redundant data for ultimate protection. (Say that three times fast—I dare you!) If one system goes down, the other systems continue to run.

TIP TIP For those of you a little weak on networking, take a moment to read through Chapter 21. You need to understand basic networking to appreciate Windows 2000/XP.

NT File System (NTFS)From the beginning, Microsoft designed and optimized every aspect of Windows 2000/XP for multi-user, networked environments. This is most evident in the NT file system. Whereas all previous Microsoft OSs used either FAT16 or FAT32, Windows 2000 and XP use a far more powerful and robust file system, appropriately called NT File System (NTFS).

Chapter 10 contains a good basic description of NTFS, but let’s go into a bit more detail. NTFS offers the following excellent features:

• Long filenames (LFNs)

• Redundancy

• Backward compatibility

• Recoverability

• Security




55

Long FilenamesNTFS supported LFNs long before FAT32 even existed. NTFS filenames can be up to 255 characters.

RedundancyNTFS has an advanced FAT called the Master File Table (MFT). An NTFS partition keeps a backup copy of the most critical parts of the MFT in the middle of the disk, reducing the chance that a serious drive error can wipe out both the MFT and the MFT copy. Whenever you defrag an NTFS partition, you’ll see a small, immovable “chunk” in the middle of the drive; that’s the backup MFT.

Backward CompatibilityFor all its power, NTFS is amazingly backward compatible. You can copy DOS or Win-dows 9x/Me programs to an NTFS partition—Windows will even keep the LFNs.

RecoverabilityAccidental system shutdowns, reboots, and lockups in the midst of a file save or re-trieval wreak havoc on most systems. NTFS avoids this with transaction logging. Transac-tion logging identifies incomplete file transactions and restores the file to the original format automatically and invisibly.

SecurityNTFS truly shines with its powerful security functions. When most people hear the term “security,” they tend to think about networks, and NTFS security works perfectly in a networked environment, but it works equally well on single systems that support mul-tiple users. Let’s look at three major features of NTFS security: accounts, groups, and permissions.

Accounts To use a Windows 2000/XP system, you must have a valid account (and, frequently, a password). Without an account, you cannot use the system (Figure 13-78).

Figure 13-78 Login failure




56Every Windows 2000/XP system has a “super” account called administrator. Remem-

ber when you saw the installation of Windows and it prompted you for a password for the administrator account? As you might imagine, this account has access to every-thing—a dangerous thing in the wrong hands!

Groups The administrator creates user accounts with a special program called Users and Passwords in Windows 2000 (Figure 13-79) and User Accounts in Windows XP. Note that the account list has three columns: User Name, Domain, and Group. To understand domains requires an extensive networking discussion, so we’ll leave that for Chapter 20. We’ll instead focus here on user names and groups. A user name defines an account for a person who has access to the PC. A group is simply a collection of accounts that share the same access capabilities. A single account can be a member of multiple groups.

Figure 13-79 Users and Passwords dialog box in Windows 2000

Groups make Windows administration much easier in two ways. First, you can as-sign a certain level of access for a file or folder to a group, instead of to just a single user account. For example, you can make a group called Accounting and put all the account-ing user accounts in that group. If a person quits, you don’t need to worry about assign-ing all the proper access levels when you create a new account for her replacement. After you make an account for the new person, you just add the new account to the ap-propriate access group!

Second, Windows provides seven built-in groups: Administrators, Power Users, Us-ers, Backup Operators, Replicator, Everyone, and Guests. These built-in groups have a number of preset abilities. You cannot delete these groups.

• Administrators Any account that is a member of this group has complete administrator privileges. It is common for the primary user of a Windows 2000/XP system to have his or her account in the Administrators group.




57• Power Users Power users are almost as powerful as administrators, but they

cannot install new devices or access other users’ files or folders unless the files or folders specifically provide them access.

• Users Users cannot edit the Registry or access critical system files. They can create groups but can manage only those they create.

• Backup Operators Backup operators have the same rights as users, except that they can run backup programs that access any file or folder—for backup purposes only.

• Replicator Members of the Replicator group can replicate files and folders in a domain.

• Everyone This group applies to any user who can log onto the system. You cannot edit this group.

• Guests Someone who does not have an account on the system can log on using a Guest account if the system has been set up to enable that option. This group is useful in certain network situations.

Windows XP diverges a lot from Windows 2000 on user accounts. If you’re running XP Professional and you are on a Windows domain, XP offers all the accounts listed above, but it adds four other specialized types, including Help Services Group and Re-mote Desktop Users. Windows XP Home and XP Professional, when it’s installed as a standalone PC or connected to a workgroup but not a domain, run in a specialized networking mode called simple file sharing. A Windows XP system running simple file sharing has only three account types: Computer Administrator, Limited User, and Guest. Computer Administrators can do anything, as you might suspect. Limited Users can access only certain things and have limits on where they can save files on the PC.

NTFS Permissions In the 2000/XP world, every folder and file on an NTFS parti-tion has a list that contains two sets of data. First, the list details every user and group that has access to that file or folder. Second, the list specifies the level of access that each user or group has to that file or folder. The level of access is defined by a set of restric-tions called NTFS permissions.

Permissions define exactly what a particular account can or cannot do to the file or folder and are thus quite detailed and powerful. You can make it possible, for example, for a person to edit a file but not delete it. You can let someone create a folder and not allow other people to make subfolders. NTFS file and folder permissions are so compli-cated that entire books have been written on them! Fortunately, the CompTIA A+ certi-fication exams test your understanding of only a few basic concepts of NTFS permissions: Ownership, Take Ownership permission, Change permissions, Folder permissions, and File permissions.

• Ownership When you create a new file or folder on an NTFS partition, you become the owner of that file or folder. A newly created file or folder by default gives everyone full permission to access, delete, and otherwise manipulate that file or folder. Owners can do anything they want to the files or folders they own, including changing the permissions to prevent anybody, even administrators, from accessing them.




58• Take Ownership permission This special permission enables anyone with

the permission to seize control of a file or folder. Administrator accounts have Take Ownership permission for everything. Note the difference here between owning a file and accessing a file. If you own a file, you can prevent anyone from accessing that file. An administrator who you have blocked, however, can take that ownership away from you and then access that file!

• Change permissions Another important permission for all NTFS files and folders is the Change permission. An account with this permission can give or take away permissions for other accounts.

• Folder permissions Let’s look at a typical folder in my Windows XP system to see how this one works. My E: drive is formatted as NTFS, and on it I created a folder called E:\MIKE. In My Computer, it looks like Figure 13-80. I set the permissions for the E:\MIKE folder by accessing the folder’s properties and clicking the Security tab (see Figure 13-81).

• File permissions File permissions are similar to Folder permissions. We’ll talk about File permissions right after we cover Folder permissions.

Figure 13-80 \MIKE folder—isn’t it lovely?




59

In Windows 2000/XP, just about everything in the computer has a Security tab in its properties, and every Security tab contains two main areas. The top area shows the list of accounts that have permissions for that resource. The lower area shows exactly what permissions have been assigned to the selected account.

Here are the standard permissions for a folder:

• Full Control Enables you to do anything you want!

• Modify Enables you to do anything except delete files or subfolders.

• Read & Execute Enables you to see the contents of the folder and any subfolders.

• List Folder Contents Enables you to see the contents of the folder and any subfolders. (This permission seems the same as the Read & Execute permission, but it is only inherited by folders.)

• Read Enables you to read any file in the folder.

• Write Enables you to write to files and create new files and folders.

If you look at the bottom of the Security tab in Windows 2000, you’ll see a little check box that says Allow Inheritable Permissions from Parent to Propagate to This

Figure 13-81 The Security tab lets me set permissions.




60Object. In other words, any files or subfolders created in this folder get the same per-missions for the same users/groups that the folder has. Unchecking this option enables you to stop a user from getting a specific permission via inheritance. Windows XP has the same feature, only it’s accessed through the Advanced button in the Security tab. Windows also provides explicit Deny functions for each option (Figure 13-82). Deny overrules inheritance.

Figure 13-82 Special permissions

EXAM TIP EXAM TIP Don’t panic about memorizing special permissions; just appreciate that they exist and that the permissions you see in the Security tab cover the vast majority of our needs.

File permissions are quite similar to folder permissions. Take a look at the Security tab on a typical file (Figure 13-83).




61

• Full Control Enables you to do anything you want!

• Modify Enables you to do anything except take ownership or change permissions on the file.

• Read & Execute If the file is a program, you can run it.

• Read If the file is data, you can read it.

• Write Enables you to write to the file.

Take some time to think about these permissions. Why would Microsoft create them? Think of situations where you might want to give a group Modify permission. Also, you can assign more than one permission. In many situations, we like to give us-ers both the Read as well as the Write permission.

Permissions are cumulative. If you have Full Control on a folder and only Read permission on a file in the folder, you get Full Control permission on the file.

NOTE NOTE Windows XP Home has only a limited set of permissions you can assign. As far as folder permissions go, you can assign only one: Make This Folder Private. To see this in action, right-click a file or folder and select Sharing and Security from the options. Note that you can’t just select the properties and see a Security tab as you can in Windows 2000 and XP Professional. Windows XP Home does not have file-level permissions.

Figure 13-83 Security tab




62Techs and Permissions Techs, as a rule, hate NTFS permissions. You must have administrative privileges to do almost anything on a Windows 2000/XP machine, and most administrators hate giving out administrative permissions (for obvious reasons). If one does give you administrative permission for a PC, and something goes wrong with that system while you’re working on it, you immediately become the primary suspect!

If you’re working on an 2000/XP system administered by someone else, make sure he or she understands what you are doing and how long you think it will take. Have the administrator create a new account for you with administrator privileges. Never ask for the password for a permanent administrator account! That way, you won’t be blamed if anything goes wrong on that system: “Well, I told Janet the password when she in-stalled the new hard drive … maybe she did it!” When you have fixed the system, make sure that the administrator deletes the account you used.

This “protect yourself from passwords” attitude transcends just Windows 2000/XP. PC support folks get lots of passwords, scan cards, keys, and ID tags. Most newer techs tend to get an “I can go anywhere and access anything” attitude, and this is dangerous. I’ve seen many jobs lost and friendships ruined when a tape backup suddenly disappears or a criti-cal file gets erased. Everybody points to the support tech in these situations. In physical security situations, make other people unlock doors for you. In some cases, I’ve literally made the administrator or system owner sit behind me reading a magazine, jumping up and punching in passwords as needed. What you don’t have access to can’t hurt you.

The Boot ProcessWindows 2000 and XP distinguish between the files that start the operating system (called the system files) and the rest of the operating system files (usually in the \WINDOWS or \WINNT folders). The system files (memorize these!) consist of three required files: NTL-DR, BOOT.INI, and NTDETECT.COM. If you’re using a SCSI hard drive, there’s a fourth file called NTBOOTDD.SYS. NTLDR (pronounced NT loader), begins the boot process.

You know from earlier chapters that to make a drive bootable requires an active, primary partition, right? Let’s look at the process in a PC with a hard drive partitioned as C: and D:. Ready?

The CPU wakes up and runs the system BIOS, and then the BIOS sends out a rou-tine looking for a valid operating system in the boot sector of the primary, master hard drive. The master file table (MFT) lives in the boot sector of the C: partition. It points to the location of the Windows 2000/XP system files, also on the C: drive, because that’s the bootable drive. Windows calls the primary, active partition the system partition or the system volume (if it’s a dynamic disk).

The Windows 2000/XP boot files consists of NTOSKRNL.EXE (the Windows kernel), the \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM file (which controls the loading of device drivers), and the device drivers. Even though these files are the core of the Windows 2000/XP OS, they are not capable of booting, or starting, the system. For that feat, they require NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI—the system files.

The system files start the PC and then, at the end of that process, point the CPU to the location of the boot files. The CPU goes over and chats with NTOSKRNL, and the GUI starts to load. The operating system is then up and running, and you’re able to do work.

The odd part about all this is that Microsoft decided to make the OS files mobile. The Windows operating system files can reside on any partition or volume in the PC. The \




63WINDOWS folder, for example, could very well be on drive D:, not drive C:. Whichever drive holds the core OS files is called the boot partition. This can lead to a little confusion when you say the system files are on my C: drive, but Windows is on my D: drive, but that’s just the way it is. The vast majority of Windows 2000/XP systems have the system partition and the boot partition both on the same big C: partition.

You’ve got the process now in general, so let’s look more specifically at the makeup and function of the individual files involved in the boot process.

System Partition FilesWindows 2000 and XP require the three system files in the root directory of the system partition:

• NTLDR

• BOOT.INI

• NTDETECT.COM

To see these files, go into My Computer and open the C: drive. Then open Folder Op-tions, as shown in the “My Computer” section earlier in the chapter. Click on the Show Hidden Files and Folders radio button, uncheck the Hide Protected Operating System Files (Recommended) option, and click OK. Now when you return to viewing the folder in My Computer, you will see certain critical files that Windows otherwise hides from you, so you don’t accidentally move, delete, or change them in some unintended way (Figure 13-84).

Figure 13-84 My Computer showing the system files




64

NTLDRWhen the system boots up, the master boot record (MBR) or MFT on the hard drive starts the NTLDR program. The NTLDR program then launches Windows 2000/XP or another OS. To find the available OSs, the NTLDR program must read the BOOT.INI configuration file, and to do so it loads its own minimal file system, which enables it to read the BOOT.INI file off the system partition.

BOOT.INI FileThe BOOT.INI file is a text file that lists the OSs available to NTLDR and tells NTLDR where to find the boot partition (where the OS is stored) for each of them. The BOOT.INI file has sections defined by headings enclosed in brackets. A basic BOOT.INI in Windows XP looks like this:

[boot loader]timeout=30default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect

A more complex BOOT.INI may look like this:

[boot loader]timeout=30default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetectmulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT=”Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional” /fastdetect

Such a BOOT.INI would result in the boot menu that appears in Figure 13-85.

Figure 13-85 Boot loader in Windows 2000 with System Recovery Console




65This crazy multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1) is an example of the

Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) naming system. It’s a system that’s designed to en-able your PC to use any hard drive, including removable devices, to boot Windows. Let’s take a quick peek at each ARC setting to see how it works.

Multi(x) is the number of the adapter and always starts with 0. The adapter is determined by how you set the boot order in your CMOS setting. For example, if you have a single PATA controller and a SATA controller, and you set the system to boot first from the PATA, any drive on that controller will get the value multi(0) placed in their ARC format. Any SATA drive will get multi(1).

Disk(x) is only used for SCSI drives, but the value is required in the ARC format, so with ATA systems it’s always set to disk(0).

Rdisk(x) specifies the number of the disk on the adapter. On a PATA drive, the master is rdisk(0) and the slave is rdisk(1). On SATA drives, the order is usually based on the number of the SATA connection printed on the motherboard, though some systems allow you to change this in CMOS.

Partition(x) is the number of the partition or logical drive in an extended par-tition. The numbering starts at 1, so the first partition is partition(1), the second is partition(2), and so on.

The \WINDOWS is the name of the folder that holds the boot files. This is important to appreciate! The ARC format looks at the folder, so there’s no problem running dif-ferent versions of Windows on a single partition. You can simply install them in differ-ent folders. Of course, you have other limitations, such as file system type, but in general, multibooting in Windows is pretty trivial. Better yet, this is all handled during the install process.

ARC format can get far more complicated. SCSI drives get a slightly different ARC format. For example, if you installed Windows on a SCSI drive, you might see this ARC setting in your BOOT.INI:

scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)

If you want to boot to a SCSI drive, Windows will add a fourth file to your system files called NTBOOTDD.SYS. This file will only exist if you want to boot to a SCSI drive. Most people don’t boot to a SCSI, so don’t worry if you don’t see this file with the other three system files.

On rare occasions, you might find yourself needing to edit the BOOT.INI file. Any text editor handily edits this file, but most of us prefer to edit BOOT.INI via the System Setup dialog box. In Windows 2000/XP, open the System applet from the Control Pan-el. Click the Advanced tab and then click the Startup and Recovery button. The BOOT.INI options show up at the top (Figure 13-86).




66

BOOT.INI has some interesting switches at the end of the ARC formats that give special instructions on how the operating system should boot. Sometimes Windows puts these in automatically, and sometimes you will add them manually for trouble-shooting. Here are a few of the more common ones:

• /BOOTLOG Tells Windows to create a log of the boot process and write it to a file called Ntbtlog.txt.

• /CMDCONS Tells Windows to start the Recovery Console (see Chapter 15).

• /LASTKNOWNGOOD Tells Windows to boot the Last Known Good set of files (see Chapter 15).

• /NOEXECUTE Newer CPUs come with Data Execute Protection (DEP) to prevent unruly programs from causing system lockups. The setting for this, /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN, is the default on Windows systems.

NTDETECT.COMIf the NTLDR determines that you have chosen to start Windows 2000/XP, it boots the system into protected mode and then calls on NTDETECT.COM to detect the installed hardware on the system. NTLDR then refers to the BOOT.INI file to locate the Windows boot files.

Critical Boot FilesNaming all of the critical boot files for Windows 2000/XP is akin to naming every mus-cle in the human body—completely possible, but time-consuming and without any real benefit. However, a few of the most important files certainly deserve a short mention.

Figure 13-86 BOOT.INI options




67Once NTLDR finishes detections, it loads NTOSKRNL.EXE, HAL.DLL, some of the

Registry, and some basic device drivers; then it passes control to the NTOSKRNL.EXE file. NTOSKRNL.EXE completes the Registry loading, initializes all device drivers, and starts the WINLOGON.EXE program, which displays the Windows 2000/XP logon screen (Figure 13-87).

Figure 13-87 Where do you want to go today?

Take the time to memorize the primary boot files and the boot process for Windows 2000/XP. Most boot errors are easily repaired if you know which files are used for boot-ing and in which order they load.

Windows VersionsUp to this point we’ve been talking about two different versions of Windows: Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional. This is a great way to look at the big picture with Windows operating systems, but if you want to get detailed—and we need to get detailed—Windows 2000 and Windows XP are really families of Windows oper-ating systems. In this section, we’ll look at every version of Windows 2000 and XP, as well as a few other versions of Windows, and see the differences in detail.

Before Windows XP came along, Windows was in a bit of a mess. Microsoft had two totally different operating systems—each called Windows—that it sold for two different markets. Microsoft sold the old Windows 9x series (Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me) for the home user and small office, and the much more powerful Win-dows NT was for corporate environments. The Windows 9x operating systems were little more than upgrades from the old DOS operating system, still tied to old 8088 pro-grams (we call these 16-bit programs), unable to use the powerful NTFS file system and generally unstable for any serious work. Windows NT had all the power and security we love in Windows 2000 and XP, but it lacked a powerful interface and many other little niceties we expect in our Windows today.

Windows 2000 was the first step towards changing this mess. It was based on the old Windows NT, but for the first time it included a great interface, support for dang near any program, and was generally substantially easier to use than the old Windows NT. Microsoft originally presented Windows 2000 as a replacement for Windows NT, but its stability and ease of use motivated many knowledgeable Windows 9x users to upgrade. Windows 2000 is still very popular today, even with Windows XP and Win-dows Vista now available.




68Windows 2000 comes in two versions: Professional and Server. Every description of

Windows 2000 thus far has referred to the Professional version, so let’s talk about Serv-er. If you were to look at the Windows 2000 Server desktop, you’d be hard-pressed to see any obvious differences from Windows 2000. Windows 2000 Server (Figure 13-88) is the heavy-duty version, loaded with extra software and features that make it superb for running an office server. Windows 2000 Server is also extremely expensive, costing on average around $200 per computer that accesses the server.

Figure 13-88 Windows 2000 Server

Windows XP was designed to be the one-stop OS for everyone. And because Micro-soft sees three types of users—professionals, home users, and media junkies—Windows XP comes in three different versions: Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home, and Windows XP Media Center. There is no official server version of Windows XP.

NOTE NOTE Windows Server 2003 is not an official XP version, but it is the server Microsoft likes folks to use with Windows XP.

Windows XP ProfessionalMicrosoft Windows XP Professional offers a complete computing solution, tuned for office environments that support multiple users. It provides full-blown data security,




69and it is the only version of Windows with the capability of logging into a special Win-dows Server-controlled network called a domain. (Windows domains are discussed in detail in Chapter 21, “Local Area Networking”).

Windows XP HomeAs its name implies, Windows XP Home is designed for the home and small office user. The best way to describe Windows XP Home is to list the Windows XP Professional features that Windows XP Home lacks. Windows XP Home does not have:

• The ability to log on to a Windows domain A Windows Home PC may log into any single Windows server, but you must have a username and password on every single server. With a domain, you can have one username and password that works on all computers that are members of the domain.

• Encrypted File System With Windows XP Professional you can encrypt a file so that only you can read it.

• Support for multiple processors Windows XP Home does not support more than one CPU. Surprisingly, it does support dual-core CPUs!

• Support for Remote Desktop A Windows XP Professional PC may be remotely accessed from another computer using the Remote Desktop (Figure 13-89). You cannot access a Windows XP Home system in this fashion.

Figure 13-89 Remote Desktop




70• Support for NTFS Access Control Remember all those neato NTFS

permissions like Full Control, Modify, and Read & Execute? Well, Windows XP Home doesn’t give you the ability to control these NTFS permissions individually. When you look at the properties of a file or folder in Windows XP Home, you’ll notice that there is no Security Tab. Instead, Windows XP Home’s Sharing Tab (Figure 13-90) shows that only one folder, the Shared Documents folder, is open for sharing—very different from XP Professional!

Figure 13-90 Windows XP Home Sharing tab

• Support for group policies Do you need to keep users from using a certain program? Do you want to prevent them from changing the screensaver? What do you want to do if they try to log in three times unsuccessfully? That’s the job of group polices. Well, if you want this level of control on your system, get Windows XP Professional as XP Home doesn’t support them. Group policies are discussed in detail in Chapter 23.

There are a few more differences between Windows XP Professional and XP Home, but these are the ones you’re most likely to run into. Basically, if you want serious con-trol of the folders, files, users, and network, you need XP Professional.

Windows XP Media CenterMicrosoft Media Center is a specialized XP version that includes the very handy Win-dows Media Center program (Figure 13-91). Media Center is a powerful Personal Video




71

On the Microsoft Media Center Web site, Microsoft declares that the Windows XP Microsoft Media Center edition is based on Windows XP Professional; however, other than the Media Center program, Windows XP Media Center’s capabilities are identical to those of Windows XP Home.

Windows 64-Bit VersionsMicrosoft has multiple versions of Windows designed to support 64-bit CPUs. If you remember from the CPU chapter, there are two families of 64-bit CPUs: the ones that don’t support 32-bit processors (like the Intel Itanium2) and ones that can run both 64-bit and 32-bit (like the Intel Core 2). The 64-bit-only version of Windows is called Windows XP 64-bit Edition (apparently Microsoft decided not to get cute when nam-ing that one). Given that it only works on Intel Itanium processors, the chance of you seeing this operating system is pretty small unless you decide to work in a place with powerful server needs. The Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is much more com-mon, as it runs on any AMD or Intel processor that supports both 32 and 64 bits (Figure 13-92).

Figure 13-91 Microsoft Media Center

Recorder (PVR) program that enables you to watch and record television (you’ll need a TV tuner card) and organize all of your media, from photos to music.




72

NOTE NOTE Windows Server 2003 also has a 64-bit version.

Windows XP 64-bit versions have had some impact, as they were the first stable Windows versions that truly supported 64-bit processing, but it was the introduction of Microsoft Vista that really started the move into the 64-bit world.

Beyond A+There are a few more versions of Windows you should know about, starting with the newest version, Windows Vista. It’s not on the CompTIA A+ exam (yet), but if you’re working as a PC tech, you’ll soon start encountering it. There are also several specialized versions that you won’t find on regular PCs but that are very popular on PDAs, tablet PCs, and embedded systems.

Figure 13-92 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition




73

Windows VistaEven though Windows Vista is not a part of the current CompTIA A+ exams, it’s impor-tant to at least recognize what Vista is, and know what choices you have when deciding which version of Vista you need for a particular PC. Windows has a number of different versions of Vista, each geared toward a particular market segment. Let’s look at the dif-ferent version of Vista.

Windows Vista Home BasicVista Home Basic is roughly equivalent to XP Home. Microsoft gears it to home users not needing more advanced multimedia support.

Windows Vista Home PremiumVista Home Premium is the same as Vista Home Basic, but it adds PVR capabilities similar to those of Windows XP Media Center.

Windows Vista BusinessVista Business is the basic business version and has all the security, file sharing, and ac-cess controls seen in Windows XP Professional.

Windows Vista EnterpriseWindows Vista Enterprise adds a few features to Vista Business, including more ad-vanced encryption and support for multiple languages from a single install location. This version is only available to enterprise (large corporate) buyers of Windows.

Windows Vista UltimateVista Ultimate combines all of the features of every other Vista version and includes some other features, such as a game performance tweaker and DVD ripping capability.

Windows MobileWindows Mobile is a very small version of Windows designed for PDAs and phones. Windows Mobile is only available as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) product, which means you buy the device and it comes with Windows Mobile—you can’t buy some PDA or phone and then buy Windows Mobile separately.

Windows XP Tablet PCA tablet PC is a laptop with a built-in touch screen. The idea behind a tablet PC is to drastically reduce, if not totally eliminate, the use of a keyboard (Figure 13-93). In some situations tablet PCs have started to become quite popular. Windows XP Tablet PC edition is Microsoft’s operating solution for tablet PCs. Tablet PC is still Windows XP, but it adds special drivers and applications to support the tablet.




74

NOTE NOTE You’ll see more of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition in Chapter 19, “Portable Computing.”

Windows EmbeddedThe world is filled with PCs in the most unlikely places. Everything from cash registers to the F-22 Raptor fighting plane contain some number of tiny PCs. These aren’t the PCs you’re used to seeing, though. They almost never have mice, monitors, keyboards, and the usual I/O you’d expect to see, but they are truly PCs, with a CPU, RAM, BIOS, and storage.

These tiny PCs need operating systems just like any other PC, and there are a num-ber of different companies that make specialized OSs for embedded PCs. Microsoft makes Windows Embedded just for these specialized embedded PCs.

Chapter Review Questions 1. Which of the following is an advantage of running Windows 2000 on NTFS as

opposed to FAT32? (Select two.)

A. Security

B. Encryption

C. Long filenames

D. FDISK

Figure 13-93 Tablet PC




75 2. Which folder permission allows file creation and editing, but not deleting?

A. Full Control

B. Full Access

C. Modify

D. Read & Execute

3. What type of files are NTLDR, BOOT.INI, and NTDETECT.COM?

A. Boot files

B. System files

C. Starter files

D. NTFS files

4. What folder is a central storage location for user files?

A. Program Files

B. My Documents

C. My Files

D. My Network Places

5. Which utility is helpful in troubleshooting hardware?

A. System Properties

B. Device Manager

C. Disk Management

D. Security Center

6. Which Windows XP utility backs up critical files and settings and enables you to roll back to a previous state?

A. Registry

B. System Restore

C. System Information

D. Microsoft Management Console

7. Many tech tools are grouped together in which location?

A. Start | All Programs | Tools

B. Start | All Program | Tools | System Tools

C. Start | All Programs | System Tools | Accessories

D. Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools

8. Which utility is missing from the default Windows XP Home installation?

A. Backup

B. Character Map




76 C. Computer Management

D. User Accounts

9. What is displayed in the My Computer window?

A. All the drives on your system

B. All the Control Panel applets

C. Installed programs

D. Other computers on the network

10. Which Registry root key contains information about file types?

A. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

B. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

C. HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

D. HKEY_USERS

Answers

1. A, B. NTFS offers security and encryption, two things you don’t get with FAT32.

2. C. Modify permission enables you to create and edit files, but not delete them.

3. B. NTLDR, BOOT.INI, and NTDETECT.COM are the Windows 2000/XP system files.

4. B. Most users put files in My Documents.

5. B. For hardware in general, turn to the Device Manager.

6. B. System Restore does the trick here, enabling you to back up and restore your system.

7. D. You’ll find many useful tools in Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools

8. A. Backup is not installed by default in Windows XP Home

9. A. My Computer shows your drives.

10. A. You’ll find file information in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
